Healthtips

If you’re among the many who grab a muffin for breakfast,
get ready for the bad news.

That’s a sugar and carbs overload, says
nutritionist Ashley Sauve. It’ll hit your waist, your health, and could be part
of the reason for the “three o’clock
dip” – when your body craves a new sugar hit.

These and other tidbits were offered this week at the Health
and Wellness Symposium at Toronto’s
Petah Tikva synagogue. Presenting were Sauve, and Moshe
Schwartz - personal trainer and fitness coach.

Schwartz encouraged people to set specific and smart workout
goals, that were both measurable and attainable. One thing to keep in mind,
moreover, is that “losing weight isn’t the best, or the only metric.”

A client of his for month months, in fact, had lost
negligible weight after months of training, yet found her overall health,
muscle, and waist size to have improved.

“It’s a big mental barrier. Society wrongly puts a premium
on the number on the scale,” noted Schwartz.

But if it’s weight you want to lose, have a specific goal in
mind – a number to chase, making the goal more attainable.

Meanwhile, Sauve surprised many in the audience, after showing
a close-up of nutrition facts of yogourt and ice cream, both of which contained
the same amounts of sugar.

Also on the topic of sugar, she cautioned that fruits –
though good for you – contain natural sugars, and like consuming refined
sugars, excess is not a good thing.

However, eating fruit with a protein better absorbs the
sugars, she noted.

And finally, for those craving the carbs of noodles but want
fewer carbs, she suggested zucchini noodles (homemade are best).